Waupaca suspect in custody on cash bond
Todd A. Pionek, 54, Waupaca, is charged with an eighth drunken driving offense.
Shortly after 5 a.m. Monday, July 6, Waupaca Police Officer Randy Busch heard Waupaca County deputies being dispatched for a disturbance at a home on County Trunk U, west of Waupaca, according to his report of the incident.
A woman called 911 and reported Pionek was highly intoxicated and had broken a window.
Later that same morning, Pionek was reported to be at Bethany Home, where he had caused a disturbance around 4 a.m.
As Busch responded to the area, he saw Pionek in a black Ford F-350 truck pulling out of Bethany Home’s parking lot.
The officer followed the truck and made a traffic stop on Park Avenue at Seventh Street.
Busch reported Pionek smelled like alcohol and had slurred speech.
According to the criminal complaint, a preliminary breath test indicated Pionek had a .227 blood-alcohol content.
When asked if he would submit to a blood draw, Pionek “became belligerent and told me to ‘shut it up’ and tried to yell over me as I read the form,” Busch reported.
Busch obtained a warrant for the blood draw from Judge Raymond Huber at 6:38 a.m.
Busch also cited Pionek for refusing to take the test for intoxication and for displaying an unauthroized license plate.
Pionek is currently in custody on a $2,000 cash bond.
Pionek’s prison record
At the time of his arrest on July 6, Pionek had been released from state prison 11 months earlier.
On April 20, 2001, Winnebago County sentenced Pionek to prison for 18 months for his fifth OWI, committed on April 19, 2000.
On July 10, 2001, Calumet County sentenced Pionek to prison for 2 1/2 years for his sixth OWI, committed on Dec, 13, 2001. The judge ordered his term to be served consecutively to his Winnebago County sentence.
On March 15, 2005, the Department of Corrections released Pionek on extended supervision.
From May through July, 2008, Pionek was admitted to the Alternative to Revocation program for violations of his supervision.
On Nov. 18, 2011, Outagamie County convicted Pionek on two counts of disorderly conduct and placed him on one year of probation. Two months later, his probation was revoked and he was sentenced to 80 days in jail.
On Oct. 8, 2013, Outagamie County convicted Pionek of disorderly conduct and ordered him to pay $505 in fines and court costs.
On Nov. 9, 2015, Waupaca County convicted Pionek of a sixth OWI.
According to court records, Pionek had a .332 blood-alcohol content at the time of his arrest.
As part of a plea deal, then District Attorney John Snider agreed to delete a Minnesota conviction from 1995 from the OWI count, bringing the total back down to six.
Judge Vicki Clussman placed Pionek on three years of probation, sentenced him to one year in jail, assessed him a total of $4,111 in fines and court costs, revoked his license for two years, ordered him to install an IID for two years and to not consume any alcohol during his probation.
On June 22, 2018, Outagamie County convicted Pionek of resisting an officer and disorderly conduct. The court withheld sentence and placed him on 12 months probation.
On Dec. 4, 2018, Outagamie County revoked Pionek’s probation and sentenced him to eight months confinement in state prison and four months of extended supervision.
He was released from prison on Aug. 6, 20019.